


so much for taking a break

by Anonymous



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: De-aging, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, actually let's not discuss the technicalities, but for obvious reasons there's not much of the romantic element here, technically?? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 17:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30025521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The thing is, Seungmin had always assumed he'd lose his mind someday.He's always been one of the more levelheaded members of the group. Always thinking before speaking, always approaching situations with a mature heart and clear mind, but having shared a dorm with seven other men for the past few years — seven men who aren't the best at keeping their living area tidy (exceptions may apply), seven men that are loud (noisy, rowdy, even just straight up annoying at times) and incapable of telling where one's personal space starts and where someone else's ends, seven men that he'll be living his life with for as long as Stray Kids exist — the downfall of his sanity sort of felt inevitable.Sitting here at a mere twenty years of age, though, Seungmin can honestly say that he hadn't expected this day to come by so early on into his career.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14
Collections: Sweet & Sour Fest





	so much for taking a break

**Author's Note:**

> written for prompt #a008 of Sweet & Sour fest! to the prompter, it's a little rushed as I deleted everything I had the past few months and rewrote it in 2 days (and I am still not entirely satisfied with it) but I hope that this fic is up to your standards and that you enjoy reading :)
> 
> [Sweet & Sour Fest](https://twitter.com/sweetsourfest/)

The news that they had a few free days coming up soon could not have come at a better time for Seungmin.

They've been working so hard lately, practicing so much for Kingdom and their upcoming comeback, putting their all into everything that they did just to make sure their stays are getting what they deserve. He knows all that effort will be worth it in the end, but for now all Seungmin wanted to do was sleep for days just to replenish that energy. Well, maybe not sleep for days, but the rest is certainly needed. Seungmin's plans were to laze around as much as possible — he wanted to take the chance to finally watch some of the dramas that have been on his list for ages, maybe even cook himself a proper meal for once.

There are two factors that Seungmin hadn't accounted for in the initial making of his plans.

One— as soon as Seungmin had turned down any offers to tag along with anyone else who planned on spending time outside and explained that he had really just wanted to relax in the dorms, Hyunjin, too, was suddenly changing his own plans, claiming that he wanted _to spend time with my Seungminnie!_ and Seungmin (gaze fond, soft smile on his face as Hyunjin reached out to grab his hand and everyone else made disgusted noises at the couple) was in no place to stop him from doing so.

It'd been a while since they even got the option to have time to themselves like this, so Seungmin hadn't been surprised that Hyunjin would jump at any opportunity to just be alone with him regardless of what it was that Seungmin wanted to do. That's okay, as long as Seungmin feeds him and gives him the physical affection he was practically born to require in order to function as a human being, Hyunjin will be satisfied no matter what. It's easy; loving Hyunjin, spending time with him, giving him the affection he deserves. Seungmin wouldn't pass up an opportunity to just live in the presence of Hyunjin either.

Two— Seungmin had woken up just before noon to an empty dorm. Well, almost an empty dorm.

When he blinked his sleep-crusted eyes open, he was there, sitting atop Seungmin's chest, wide awake like he'd been waiting for Seungmin to finally wake up.

There was no mistaking who it was, Seungmin had recognized him immediately — the mole under his left eye, blond hair still silky but shorter than Seungmin's seen in a long while, the crescent moon shaped eyes whenever he smiled big — but it was so weird. This Hyunjin certainly wasn't the one he fell asleep next to last night, cradled in his arms, held tightly against his body. This Hyunjin was smaller, shorter... so much shorter, and he was calling Seungmin _hyung._

Seungmin had nearly shoved the kid off of him out of fear and panic, and he would've, if it weren't for the very real feeling of the boy's weight on his chest and his small fingers against his face, squishing and poking Seungmin's cheeks with a giggle.

Either way, when he woke up that morning he was expecting to see Hyunjin, and while he had gotten exactly that, he certainly hadn't been expecting to see him like _this._

(Three— Hyunjin refuses to eat anything other than dinosaur chicken nuggets, and the chicken nuggets that Seungmin had ordered to the dorm are, in fact, not at all dinosaur shaped. So, here he is, sitting in the kitchen, secretly attempting to cut these chicken nuggets into something that resembles a dinosaur even in the slightest, all for someone who is supposed to be his boyfriend but clearly isn't right now.)

This really isn't how he wanted to spend his break at all.

Seungmin takes care of Hyunjin enough as it is; cleaning up after him whenever he's forgotten to, cooking lunch for the both of them to share whenever Hyunjin wraps his arms around him from behind and calls his name in that specific tone he uses when he wants something from Seungmin, voice laced with a little too much love to not draw any suspicions from the younger, dragging him back home from the practice room when he's been in there for longer than Seungmin would like, but a five year old Hyunjin is different. A five year old Hyunjin requires a lot more attention, a lot more care.

(His age had been determined earlier, when Seungmin asked him how old he was and Hyunjin blurted out the number _'five!',_ holding out four fingers.)

Seungmin doesn't have much personal experience with children. He's the youngest in his family, so the closest he's even had to that was Jeongin when they first met as trainees, and even then they were both teenagers and Jeongin is only a few months younger than he is. Suffice to say, Seungmin's not quite built for this experience right now. With no one else around to help, though, the most Seungmin can do is try his best to look after Hyunjin until someone more capable is around to help fix this situation (Chan, specifically).

"Seungminnie hyung?" Hyunjin calls, dragging Seungmin's attention away from the boiling pot of ramyeon on the stove. "What dinosaur is this?"

He's holding up one of Seungmin's badly cut chicken nuggets in between his thumb and index finger, and Seungmin can't help but wince a little at how very unlike a dinosaur it looks. All Seungmin can hope is for child Hyunjin to not be a dinosaur expert. "Ah... It's a Stegosaurus," Seungmin says, staring at the shape that does not look like a Stegosaurus.

He watches as Hyunjin squints at it, a little worried that maybe child Hyunjin really was a dinosaur expert, but then Hyunjin bites the chicken nugget in half, mumbling out a "steggysaurus," around a mouthful of food and a small nod, and the relief floods into Seungmin's body immediately. As long as there are no complaints, Seungmin will consider this a success.

The rest of their lunch time goes without a hitch. Seungmin finishes cooking, watching Hyunjin chomp down on the fake dinosaur chicken nuggets, feeding Hyunjin some of the ramyeon when he asks for it, up until Hyunjin decides he's full and escapes to the living room to watch TV.

It's then that Seungmin thinks he should probably tell someone about this. Hyunjin turning into a child is a concern for more than just him, obviously, but the idea of bringing up a new problem when everyone else is out having a good time makes him feel a little hesitant to do so. It'd help him feel better if at least one person other than himself knew about it though so he doesn't feel as crazy as he does at the moment, having to deal with his own boyfriend as a child. He's not sure how long this will last, if it'll end up affecting their work when their short break is over or if Hyunjin will be back to normal by then.

Either way, Seungmin is calling Changbin before he knows it, his body practically programmed to go to their designated 2000-line problem solver immediately, listening to the phone ring once, twice, until Changbin picks up.

"Ah, our Seungminnie," Changbin coos, "did you miss hyung already? Is that why you called?"

It's a classic Changbin tease, but Seungmin has no time for playing games, desperate to tell someone so he's not the only one losing his mind here. "My _boyfriend,_ " Seungmin hisses into his phone, low enough to not alert anyone other than Changbin. He keeps his gaze on Hyunjin as if the boy will disappear if he looks away for even the slightest of seconds. "Is a _child,_ hyung. I called you because I need help."

"A child," he hears Changbin repeat quietly under his breath. There's a groan and a little bit of silence before Changbin is speaking up again, louder this time. "Look, Seungmin – I know I said I'd listen to your problems but I'm not a relationship counsellor. I'm single and lonely as fuck, so I refuse to get dragged into any of your business with Hyunjin anymore. Don't rub it in."

And it's embarrassing, really, the realization that out of everyone in the group, Changbin is most certainly the one that's been aware of the majority of any previous problems they may have had with regards to their developing relationship. It's even more embarrassing that Changbin is automatically assuming this is yet another conversation about their relationship. He's glad that no one is around to witness the blush rising to his face.

"Hyung, this is not a _relationship problem._ I'm serious. Hyunjin has turned into a literal child and I don't know what to do."

Silence, again. The words coming out of his mouth sound so ridiculous in his own ears, he can't even imagine how crazy they must sound to Changbin. He wouldn't believe them either.

"Seungmin-ah... Maybe you should rest a little, you've worked hard lately, you deserve a break." Changbin says softly, "some sleep would be good for you, really."

Seungmin hangs up on him, sliding the phone onto the dining table with a huff. For the amount of good advice Changbin usually gives out, this one certainly wasn't one of them. He runs a hand through his hair and glances back out at Hyunjin still sat on the floor of the living room. Seungmin has no idea what he's watching, but as long as his attention is occupied until Seungmin figures out what to do with him that's all that matters.

His phone buzzes moments later, the text notification from SKZ Channie hyung popping up on his screen. _"Hey, are you okay?"_ it reads, and Seungmin feels like screaming.

No, he is very much not okay. He sends Changbin a quickly snapped photo of five year old Hyunjin and does not answer any texts that follow it in response.

Seungmin heads over to the living room couch and collapses on top of it face first, ignoring the way Hyunjin climbs onto his back right after, laying on top of him, full weight and all.

Despite the obvious lack of experience with kids, if there is anything that Seungmin knows about them, it's the fact that a loud, energetic child being quiet for too long is immediately suspicious.

At first, Seungmin doesn't mind the silence, grateful the chance to rest on his own, but then he realizes he hasn't seen Hyunjin in a while and he can't help but shoot up from his spot on the couch, calling out Hyunjin's name only to be met with more silence in response.

God, he's not even allowed to have one moment to relax, it seems.

He stumbles through the dorm until he finds him sitting on the floor of the room Chan and Changbin share with Felix. There's a mess of wrappers and sweets by his side that Seungmin had not seen anywhere else. He wasn't even aware that they had candy like that in the dorm.

"Hyunjin..?" Seungmin asks, eyebrows furrowed as he scans the room before his gaze lands back down on the boy. Nothing else looks out of place, thankfully. Chan would not be happy to come back home to a messy room. "Where did you get those from?"

Hyunjin grins up at him, waving a small hand now that he's aware of Seungmin's presence in the room. "It's Lix hyung's candy!"

"Felix's candy," Seungmin repeats, putting a hand to his forehead out of exasperation because _of course_ Felix has a goddamn secret stash of candy and _of course_ Hyunjin somehow knows where it is. Hyunjin nods at him gleefully, pulling out another piece of chocolate from its wrapper only to have Seungmin take it away from him before it can even reach his mouth. It leaves Hyunjin devastated, staring at Seungmin like he just told him Santa doesn't exist, mouth still agape. "No more of that. You've had enough of it." He reaches out and gently pushes Hyunjin's jaw closed.

Hyunjin's face crumples almost immediately. His eyebrows scrunch together and his lips form into a pout that Seungmin finds to be a lot cuter on him when he's five, as opposed to when he does it as a whole ass twenty year old man. "But- but I only had one!"

Seungmin eyes the multiple wrappers lying haphazardly down on the floor by Hyunjin's leg and he quirks an eyebrow. He's not even trying to hide them, but Seungmin supposes he shouldn't be surprised that Hyunjin sucks at lying even as a child. With a sigh, he ruffles Hyunjin's hair, subtly gathering up the trash with his free hand. "No more, okay?" Seungmin says carefully, making sure not to accidentally cause any tears from the boy. It's really odd, scolding someone who is actually older than him, about their eating habits, no less. Seungmin hopes he doesn't have to get used to doing this. He misses the Hyunjin who was capable of making wise decisions on his own.

Hyunjin looks at him with wide, glassy eyes, bottom lip trembling, but he nods nonetheless. "Okay hyung," he mumbles. He looks as if Seungmin has just given the scolding of a lifetime. If Seungmin weren't immune to the effect those eyes have, he'd definitely be feeling a little bit bad about it.

Seungmin smiles at him and tosses the trash into the little garbage can by the door before heading back over to the boy, patting his shoulder. He lets Hyunjin grasp onto his hand. "Come on, let's go back downstairs."

승민  
sorry abt your candy stash

**skz felix !!**  
?? what candy stash  
never heard of it  
and if i did i definitely would not own one

**skz felix !!**  
WAIT please don't tell me Hyunjin ate my sweets ????!  
seubgmin  
seungmin  
please  
nooooo ㅠㅠ

Hyunjin, even as a child, is still as clingy with Seungmin as ever. Apart from sneaking off to swallow down some sweets, he doesn't leave Seungmin's side for more than a few minutes, always hovering around him or at least in the same vicinity. Earlier, when Seungmin was gathering ingredients to make a slightly more fancy ramyeon for himself, he clung to his leg the entire time until his chicken nuggets arrived and Seungmin had to physically sit him down at the dining table. Even now, he forces his way into Seungmin's lap in the middle of his rewatching of Extraordinary You, sinking against Seungmin's body, looking incredibly tiny against him - baggy clothes and all. Seungmin merely hugs him against his chest and lets him play with the rings on his fingers to keep him occupied.

And it works. For about five minutes, that is.

All hopes of focusing on the show is lost when Hyunjin begins to squirm in his hold and kick his legs against the bottom of the couch, very obviously hyper and unable to sit still for a long period of time due to the sugar he'd managed to consume earlier. It won't be long until he's whining and begging Seungmin to do something else with him, he reckons. He supposes it's a good thing he chose to rewatch something instead of catching up on something new, otherwise he wouldn't be able to retain any of the plot. That, and he thinks that the real Hyunjin would be upset to find out he watched a drama without him.

"Seungmin hyung," Hyunjin mumbles, "I'm bored."

"Here," Seungmin says. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, unlocks it, and presses it into Hyunjin's hands. "Play with this."

Hyunjin blinks down at it for a brief second before leaning back against Seungmin with a whine. Seungmin nearly has a heart attack with the way Hyunjin tosses it to the side, thankfully it lands on the cushions beside them. "I want to play with hyung! Please? Can we play hide and seek?"

Seungmin merely sighs. "Hide and seek won't be fun with just two people, Hyun. And there's no place to hide in here."

Hyunjin slides off of Seungmin's lap and turns around to face him, blocking part of Seungmin's view of Extraordinary You, a pout on his face again as he stomps one foot on the ground. "I want to play!"

Out of worry that Hyunjin may end up spiraling into an actual tantrum that Seungmin would not know how to deal with if he were to say no, Seungmin can't help but agree to just one game. He's a little weak to the wants of Hwang Hyunjin regardless of age, it seems.

And really, Seungmin never would've expected to be playing _hide and seek_ at the age of twenty, but here he is, counting to ten as he waits for Hyunjin to find the prime hiding spot. He continues to sit there for a solid few seconds more even after he's done counting because all he can think about is what is going on with his life currently. He wonders if this is his breaking point – the moment where his sanity truly disappears, but then he stops thinking and heads off in search of his boyfriend-turned-child.

It's early still and while the rest of the group aren't back yet, Seungmin thinks it's a good enough time to turn in for the night.

Taking care of a kid is a lot more tiring than Seungmin would've thought it to be, despite the lack of activities they'd done. He doesn't have the brain power to even consider attempting to help turn Hyunjin back into his actual age, and he especially doesn't have the energy to do it on his own.

Luckily for him, Hyunjin seems to be tired too. He keeps yawning and rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand, and is overall quieter than he's been all day. He's leaning against Seungmin's side, arms wrapped around one of Seungmin's, cheek squished against it.

"Bedtime, Jinnie?" Seungmin asks, pulling his arm out of Hyunjin's grasp to wrap it around the small boy's body instead.

"'M not tired," Hyunjin replies, but the yawn he lets out right after begs to differ.

Seungmin practically drifts off to sleep the moment he hits his bed, lazily pulling the covers over himself as he lets his eyes close. He's not sure how long he's laying there before Hyunjin is waking him up again.

"Seungminnie hyung," Hyunjin whines, climbing over top of Seungmin in his bunk, accidentally kneeing him in the side before he drops into the empty space in between Seungmin's body and the wall.

Seungmin groans sleepily, clutching at his side in pain. "Hm..? What, Hyunjin?"

"I'm scared," he mumbles. "Can I sleep with hyung?"

And Seungmin doesn't think he has a choice, really, with the way Hyunjin is already making himself comfortable in the spot beside him, lifting the blankets up to get underneath them. Hyunjin's going to be sleeping here regardless of whether or not Seungmin says no. So Seungmin hums a little in response as Hyunjin curls up next to him, too exhausted from the events of the day to even open his eyes anymore.

Seungmin’s not sure when or how it happens, but when he wakes up the next day to Hyunjin — _twenty year old_ Hyunjin — snuggled up close to him in bed, long limbs thrown over the top of Seungmin’s body, his weight heavy on top of him, he doesn’t think he cares too much about the formalities of the situation. He’s just glad he doesn’t have to deal with a little kid again.

(Even gladder that Hyunjin is back to normal.)


End file.
